Why Did Jesus Teach Us to Pray for Daily Forgiveness If Our Forgiveness Is Already Complete?
Pastor David, your book Standing in Grace has really helped me with my struggle against legalism. I understand that we are fully forgiven and saved the moment we’re born again, completely by grace. My question is: if we’ve already been utterly forgiven, why did Jesus teach us to pray daily for forgiveness? Now that I’m really trying to soak in God’s dealing with me by grace alone, the passage “It is finished” makes me a little nervous regarding living as though we were not yet forgiven by asking for forgiveness. I know it’s required of God’s children forgive one another in light of how much He’s forgiven us. I know that it’s assumed that we will forgive, and if we don’t, then there’s reason to doubt whether or not you’re truly born again. I really am enjoying the biblical teaching of grace in a fresh way, and I don’t want to continue to fall prey to an “earn and deserve” relationship with God. So, I figured I’d reach out to you and see what your thoughts were.
The reason why we need to continually ask God for forgiveness is really the same reason we need to continually rely on His grace. It’s because we need it day by day. Here’s an analogy. People go shopping at big warehouse price club stores, like Costco or Sam’s Club, and they buy an enormous amount of food, fill up their car with it, and come home to unload it all. Think about that person saying, “Hey, I know what I’ll do: instead of praying over each individual meal that I eat at my home, why don’t I skip all those prayers and just pray over all the food in my car right now? That’ll take care of it until I go and do another huge shopping trip again.”
That’s kind of a humorous illustration, but why isn’t that right? It’s because we need to come with a fresh, new awareness of our need before God every day, and our tremendous gratitude for what He has done for us in Jesus Christ, just like we should be thankful all over again, every time we sit in front of a plate of food and receive what God has given us.
I think it’s possible for somebody to pray in an unbelieving way. To pray for forgiveness today because you doubted the forgiveness God gave you yesterday would be an unbelieving, grace-denying attitude and prayer. Don’t do that. That’s not necessary. It’s not right.
It is good and appropriate, however, to come every day before the Lord and to simply say, “Lord, I need Your grace today. I know You gave it to me yesterday. I know You promised it to me for tomorrow, but I want to appropriate it by faith today. Lord, I need Your forgiveness today. There are sins that I committed today that I had not yet committed yesterday, so I need your forgiveness today. And Lord, I’m not praying this because I doubt the forgiveness You gave me yesterday or I doubt the forgiveness that You promise me in the future, but because I know I need it anew every day, just like I need to eat every day.” I suppose there is a way in which somebody could daily pray for forgiveness or the grace of God as an expression of unbelief, but it doesn’t have to be that way in the Christian life at all. We can pray believing prayers, full of faith, and rest in it.